Columbus, OH – On Wednesday, The Buckeye Institute submitted testimony (see full text below or download a PDF) to the Ohio House Homeland Security Committee on the policies in Ohio Senate Bill 37, which would ensure that the suspension of driver’s licenses is related to driving offenses. 

In his testimony, Greg R. Lawson, a research fellow at The Buckeye Institute, noted that Senate Bill 37 pursues the “kinds of criminal justice reform that The Buckeye Institute has championed for more than a decade” and that driver’s license suspensions should “target dangerous offenses involving operating motor vehicles, [such as] driving under the influence, and vehicular homicide.”

Citing research, Lawson highlighted that millions of Ohioans had their licenses suspended, many for offenses unrelated to dangerous driving. The serious ramifications of these suspensions, Lawson pointed out, include “difficulty obtaining and retaining meaningful employment, and [a smaller] pool of available workers for Ohio businesses already struggling to meet their employment needs.”

Lawson commended lawmakers for ending “driver’s license suspensions to sanction truancy, drug offense misdemeanors unrelated to driving, court fines, and other debt-related offenses,” noting that “these eliminations will help hundreds of thousands avoid financial traps that breed other social problems, while still protecting the public against real vehicular dangers.”

# # #

Driver’s License Suspensions Should Be Related to Driving Offenses

Interested Party Testimony
Ohio House Homeland Security Committee
Ohio Senate Bill 37

Greg R. Lawson, Legal Fellow
The Buckeye Institute
December 11, 2024

As Prepared for Delivery

Chair Ghanbari, Vice Chair Plummer Ranking Member Thomas, and members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify regarding Ohio Senate Bill 37.

My name is Greg R. Lawson. I am a research fellow at The Buckeye Institute, an independent research and educational institution—a think tank—whose mission is to advance free-market public policy in the states.

Senate Bill 37 includes policies that pursue the kinds of criminal justice reform that The Buckeye Institute has championed for more than a decade. The bill wisely limits the use of driver’s license suspension as a penalty for offenses unrelated to driving. 

Driver’s license suspensions should concern ensuring public safety, and they make sense when they target dangerous offenses involving operating motor vehicles, driving under the influence, and vehicular homicide. Unfortunately, suspensions are used too often as penalties for other offenses that have little or no connection to driving. Research by the Marshall Project and Cleveland’s WEWS News 5 showed that the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles issued 200,000 debt-related license suspensions in 2022. And the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland found that more than one million Ohioans had suspended driver’s licenses each year from 2016 to 2020, with higher concentrations in urban areas and among lower-income households.

Academic research has demonstrated the serious ramifications of such suspensions, including loss of autonomy, impaired health, lower social capital, and employment challenges. Those without a driver’s license face tremendous difficulty obtaining and retaining meaningful employment, and license suspensions shrink the pool of available workers for Ohio businesses already struggling to meet their employment needs.

Particularly important is the bill’s removal of using driver’s license suspensions to sanction truancy, drug offense misdemeanors unrelated to driving, court fines, and other debt-related offenses. These eliminations will help hundreds of thousands avoid financial traps that breed other social problems, while still protecting the public against real vehicular dangers.

Thank you for your time and attention. I would be happy to answer any questions that the Committee might have.

# # #